WIC Online Colloquium
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Torben Klarl, University of Bremen
Covid-19, Social-Distancing and Lock-Downs in a simple Ramsey Economy: The role of networks
Thursday, July 15, 2021, 15:00-16:00 (CEST)
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Abstract
We develop a micro founded network-based SIS model where network connections vary between members. This model is embedded into a standard Ramsey Economy. We study the optimal lockdown policy for a planner who wants to control fatalities of the Covid-19 epidemic while minimizing consumption costs of the lock-down. We show that the optimal lock-down policy depends not only on the fraction of susceptible and infected persons but, importantly, on the average degree node of the network, which is a measure of social distancing. Not accounting for this would lead to biased policy recommendations and to welfare losses. In an extension, we expand our a setting where the agents do not fully take into account the effects of social distancing due to rational inattention motives.
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WIC Online Colloquium
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Ross Barker, Austrian Academy of Sciences
From the Stork to Fertility Apps
Monday, July 19, 2021, 12:00-13:00 (CEST)
Login information will be sent to registered participants the day before the presentation.
Abstract
The market for smartphone apps tracking fertility has grown in recent years. These apps brand themselves as empowering their users to reach their reproductive goals, claiming to help achieve a pregnancy more easily than through conventional medical channels. This paper offers the first comprehensive quantification of fertility tracking app users. Using data collected from Google Play Store and Apple App Store, we calculate the most downloaded apps, and the global distribution of use. We use a log-log model fitted on the Google Play Store data to predict the Apple App Store number of installations. Our findings show that 74% of downloads are for just three of 28 apps. The majority of the reviews are left by users in North America, Northern Europe, and Australia; but it is noteworthy that downloads are also widespread in the Global South. Ongoing work aims to investigate the most discussed topics in the reviews.
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